Little Owls Nursery Armley Moor

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with enthusiasm. They show that they feel safe and secure and thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery. Children are fully involved in making decisions, and their opinions and ideas are valued and respected. They learn to manage their emotions by using books and resources, such as 'emotion cards'. Children confidently explore the indoor and outdoor environments with curiosity and make independent choices as they play. Older children practise their balance skills and develop their large-muscle movements as they ride wheeled vehicles and carefully walk across wooden bridges. Babies are supported to develop the muscle control they need to be able to crawl and walk.

Staff praise children and celebrate their achievements. They are kind and caring role models, who have ambitious expectations for children's behaviour. Children learn to take turns and share the resources with each other. They are confident and well-behaved learners. Children of all ages understand the nursery routine and respond to instructions. For example, they get involved in tidying up. This helps them to learn how to look after the environment. Children develop a strong interest in books. They sit alongside staff and carefully turn the pages and point to pictures. The nursery provides books for children to take home and share with their parents, to further promote their early love for reading.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff use accurate observations and assessments of children's progress to plan experiences for the next steps in children's learning. Throughout and since the COVID-19 pandemic, the curriculum has focused on improving children's communication and social skills, to narrow any emerging gaps. Staff use a wide range of words, providing children with language enriched conversations. Younger children are encouraged to answer simple questions with a sentence and older children are confident when describing what they are doing.
• The effective key-person system ensures staff have a good knowledge about their key children. Staff obtain meaningful information from parents about their children when they start. The youngest children delight in exploring sensory play activities, such as leaves, pumpkins and acorns. They make marks with paint and explore sand and water.
• Staff praise children and celebrate children's achievements. They recognise the uniqueness of each child. However, adults do not always use children's names when speaking to them. For instance, they are often referred to as 'sweetheart'. This means that children are not always recognised as individuals.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported to develop their skills in the understanding and use of the English language. However, staff do not use the additional languages children speak at home. For example, they do not always learn or use keywords from children's home language in the nursery. In addition, opportunities for children to learn about diversity, such as similarities and differences and the wider world, are limited.
• Staff are responsive to any delays in children's development. They identify gaps in children's learning and work in partnership with parents and other professionals to provide early intervention for children to enable them to reach their potential. This includes using visual timelines and picture cards. Additional funding received for children's care and support is carefully used to meet their learning and development needs.
• Children's physical health is promoted well through nutritious food, regular fresh air and exercise. Mealtimes are social occasions, where children and staff eat together. They talk to each other about the food they are eating. This helps them to learn about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
• Staff are skilled at incorporating the teaching of mathematics into everyday activities. For instance, when singing rhymes, younger children confidently work out how many will be left when one is taken away. Older children are encouraged to count out small-world animals and place a value on the total number they select. Children are making good progress in preparation for when they move on to school.
• Parents are very complimentary about the service that the nursery offers. They say that their children love attending and are making 'massive' progress, especially in their communication and language skills. Parents compliment staff on the information they receive about what their children are learning and how they can support their learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that children are recognised as individuals and referred to by their name
• develop more consistent ways to support children to hear and use their home languages in the nursery.